Review: Au Revoir Simone – Still Night, Still Light
Au Revoir Simone - Still Night, Still Light (2009) [Moshi Moshi] // Grade: A
Though they’ve been floating around my radar from the start, I only really started caring about Brooklyn electro-pop trio Au Revoir Simone when I realized their name was a reference to the pivotal bye-bye scene in Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. Before that, I’d dismissed them as just another in a string of ethereal, not-really-french bands with cutesy-frenchy names. The sort of thing made for craft nights, if you know what I mean: background noise to hot-pink decoupage and houses full of yarn.
This is a recurring theme with Au Revoir Simone: what bubbles beneath the surface is far more interesting than what rises to the top. Still Light, Still Night, their third and arguably most sophisticated album is less about what you hear immediately–jaunty little keyboard arrangements, wispy-thin female vocals–than what you really have to listen for. Perfectly placed hand-claps on a Legend of Zelda-like “Knight of Wands”. The crackle and hiss of a vocal recorded way hot on the sweet singalong “Take Me As I Am”. Wintry bells and filter sweeps and all manner of production techniques that mean zilch on their own but give every track an atmosphere that’s too sugary and optimistic to resist. (Think Candyland’s Peppermint Forest. Seriously.)
The big picture gets a whole lot bigger once you hear acknowledge all those extras. Then you pay attention to the stunning structures, the incredible restraint. Every catchy (and sometimes legitimately New Order-ish) melody. And that’s when you realize: shit, this might be one of the best synth-pop albums since Ladytron’s 604, albeit not so dangerous or, you know, European. You may have to forgive it a few cliches–Kate Bush rules that whole winter-waif thing, please stop trying–but Still Light, Still Night is an addictive and truly impressive album from a band capable of smashing every preconceived notion made by lame-o girls like me. They win.
